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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26999044">Sweet Release</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkDippedFingertips/pseuds/InkDippedFingertips'>InkDippedFingertips</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Just You and Me and the Grief [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Old Guard (Movie 2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Andy | Andromache of Scythia is Too Old, Canonical Character Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Ficlet, Fluff and Angst, Good Quynh | Noriko, Grief/Mourning, Short &amp; Sweet, True Love</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 00:27:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,041</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26999044</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkDippedFingertips/pseuds/InkDippedFingertips</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Andromache and Quynh grieve the loss of Lykon.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Andy | Andromache of Scythia/Quynh | Noriko</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Just You and Me and the Grief [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947685</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Sweet Release</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>*You could kinda read this as a trio if you want. It wasn't intended but it slipped in anyway...or just good friends/family. Whatever works.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The heat of the fire made her face sting, lashing at her as it grew to twice her size, but still Andromache did not move. Darkness had descended thirty minutes ago, forcing them to rush through their preparations, settling the last of the kindling on the pile. Her lips tingled where she had laid a final kiss upon Lykon’s forehead, could taste the blood that marred both her skin and his. His form was no longer visible between the flames that engulfed his body, the empty carcass that was little more then a parody of the man she’d known, the man she’d loved.</p>
<p>Quynh stood at her side, unmoving though the heat must be causing her discomfort. They had barely spoken a word since they’d dragged his body from the battlefield, leaving behind the soldiers they’d promised to lead, surrendering them to their attackers…something that she should feel guilt for.</p>
<p>Instead, there was only the empty pit in her stomach, the painful tightness in her chest, like something vital had been torn from her body, something she would never get back. Andromache felt her eyes sting, the light growing too bright, drying up the moisture and forcing her to blink, as though encouraging her to let go of her precarious control.</p>
<p>Grief was not new, the pain that could not be miraculously healed was not new. These were things Andromache had suffered before, too many times to count. First had been her mother, then her sisters, then the companions and loved ones she had before discovering she was not alone, that there were others out there, waiting for her.</p>
<p>This was not new.</p>
<p>But the relief was.</p>
<p>She recalled late night talks with Lykon and Quynh, their smiles as they talked about forever, a lifetime, a hundred, thousand lifetimes of them together, fighting side by side. The two of them could be painfully upbeat, unwilling to linger on the fear, the question…what if it never ended? That didn’t mean she hadn’t noticed the shadows in their eyes, in Lykon’s eyes when he came back from death.</p>
<p>It was strange to think he was now at peace.</p>
<p>Stranger still to miss him so fiercely in the midst of it, to want to scream and shout and bargain with death to bring him kicking and screaming back to a life he did not want. Andromache would never dare be so cruel…yet she still dreamed.</p>
<p>A familiar calloused hand slipped into hers, pulling Andromache’s gaze from the pyre. Quynh did not look at her, eyes steady, their watery depths reflecting the light. A different ache made itself known in her chest as she looked at the woman she loved.</p>
<p>Quynh was handling it well, given grief was a foreign emotion to her. She had no family to mourn as she aged, had no friends or lovers to lose to time and memory…because she had intended to die when Andromache found her. This would be the first time she had truly lost someone and just like that…the relief began to fade, fear settling into its place.</p>
<p>It was the realization that death may steal her from Quynh in due time, that she may leave her to face the world alone, that she would have no one, nothing by her side as the years marched endlessly forward. Andromache knew what loneliness was and she knew there were few things crueler than that very thing…she would rather Quynh die first then face that hellish future.</p>
<p>As if sensing the sudden turmoil in her thoughts, Quynh looked at her, brows furrowed, “Andromache?”</p>
<p>She did not have the ability to put into words the confusion and terror wreaking havoc in her mind and body. Exhaustion weighed on them both and some part of Andromache knew that when morning came, she would be embarrassed by the way she now gripped Quynh’s hand, pulling her forward and into her arms.</p>
<p>Her lover wrapped her arms tightly around her and Andromache felt gentle fingers running through her hair, equal parts soothing and loving. Sweat glistened on their skin, the fire flaring briefly, chasing away the chills that had settled into Andromache’s bones.</p>
<p>“Its alright,” Quynh murmured softly. “We will be alright.”</p>
<p>Inhaling a shuddering breath, Andromache closed her eyes and pressed a kiss to Quynh’s hair, forcing the words past her trembling lips, “even this, must end someday.”  </p>
<p>Quynh pulled back and it cracked her heart to see those familiar eyes brimming with unshed tears, even as the intensity of her gaze forbid her from looking away.</p>
<p>“No, there are some things that will outlast death itself. I will love Lykon, and I will love you long after you’ve parted from this world, long after I am taken from your side. My heart will continue to beat for you and for him, even if it is the space beyond this one.”</p>
<p>The words were spoken with a fierceness that was usually reserved for the battlefield and Andromache felt herself begin to smile. She lifted a hand to smooth back Quynh’s hair and found her beginning to match her grin, the sight a balm to the mayhem inside her.</p>
<p>“I would not dare,” Andromache began slowly. “Forget your face, your touch, your laugh, your smiles. I would not dare let my memories of Lykon or you fade, whether my time comes in the next year or the next thousand. It is you and I now, until the end.”</p>
<p>Quynh nodded, her smile a little shaky, “until the end.”</p>
<p>The promise lay heavy between them, the words settling on their tongues and their hearts. They now knew that there would be an end, that one day they would be released from this endless cycle of life and death, that one day, they would have to part ways.</p>
<p>Andromache surged forward, pulling Quynh into a hard kiss, reveling in the quiet gasp she made, in the feeling of her hands on her back, her arms, the sensation of her lips. After all, she no longer knew how many more times she might kiss the woman she loved, she no longer knew how much time was left.</p>
<p>The sharpness of death was dulled with the thought of its sweet release.</p>
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